Barron’s PSAT Review

The Preliminary School Admission Test (PSAT) is an important part of scaling your SAT test, qualifying for National Merit Scholarships, and standing out to colleges. For anyone looking to write this exam and hoping to crush it, you might need to get Barron’s PSAT book to help you in your quest.

While official College Board prep courses are the gold standard, these other standard PSAT prep materials bring unique methodologies, custom practice drills, and test-taking strategies to the table. Now that’s where Barron’s PSAT prep book comes in.

The Barron’s PSAT Book is a top-rated PSAT study guide that has a copious amount of PSAT practice tests and questions to help ideal individuals adequately prepare themselves for the PSAT.

In this Barron’s PSAT book review, I cover all that there is to know about the exam, the features and all the book has to offer, as well as the pricing. I also answered some frequently asked questions about the Barron PSAT, to help you decide if it is right for you or not.

Main Features of the Barron's PSAT Book

Even though Barron’s PSAT prep book is shorter than the top ones, the practice questions are nonetheless quite similar to those found on the test. This indicates that the practice questions closely resemble the test questions, ensuring that you won’t be caught off guard on exam day by unfamiliar situations.

Actionable Strategies

Barron’s PSAT Test Prep gives students real practice questions and a thorough understanding of effective test-taking techniques. The majority of Barron’s study guides include excellent content and pertinent details about things like format, test-taking strategies, and other advice.

With its difficult question structures and pace, the SAT may be a difficult test. Fortunately, Barron’s practical tips make things much simpler. Barron’s has taken care of all the details, so you don’t have to worry about how difficult the SATs are or how to approach them.

Diagnostic Tests

The availability of diagnostic tests on the fly is one aspect that sets Barron apart from other books. Diagnostic tests are a good way to study PSAT exam ideas since they give you a score report that breaks down your performance by section and skill area, along with your estimated PSAT/NMSQT score range.

Barron requires you to undergo diagnostic tests regularly to track your progress. They want you to be able to thoroughly go over each practice test and extract key lessons.

The diagnostic test can be found online and in the book. You must register on Barron’s Educational Series website and input the access code found in the book to take the test online.

The review sessions or score reports that follow the diagnostic test are something, in my opinion, you shouldn’t ignore as you continue reading Barron’s PSAT reviews. With this knowledge, you can organize your study approach and concentrate on your areas of weakness.

4 Full-Length Model Tests

The Barron PSAT Book includes four full-length practice exams with all five areas of the exam covered, along with explanations and answers to all questions.

The degree of difficulty of the questions on the model examinations was one thing that caught my attention. Students will be able to sail through the real PSAT on test day thanks to these practice questions, which are challenging enough to help them comprehend what is expected of them.

Additional Practice Questions

Barron PSAT Prep Books offers hundreds of extra practice questions covering every topic, along with comprehensive answers.

This large number of practice questions is intended to help you fully prepare for the examination using an actual test topic. When you can practice test questions that closely resemble the ones you’ll find on the actual test, taking the real exam will simply seem like another practice day.

Quality of Barron's PSAT Prep Materials

Barron provides high-quality stuff. Given their writers’ extensive experience and expertise in their respective disciplines, you can receive instructions that are specifically designed to fit your needs.

Barron’s Test Prep, a branch of Barron’s Educational Series, employs PSAT tutors, experts, and mentors to provide Barron PSAT Prep Books. They also offer online courses, practice exams, and tutoring for a range of standardized tests.

To help you raise your PSAT score, you have access to online materials, practice exams, and personalized reviews that are updated to match the most recent structure and content of the PSAT.

Any Guarantee from Barron’s?

Barron works hard to make sure students receive the best value for their money, as is evident from the services they provide. The book offers self-paced test strategies, online practice questions, in-depth study materials, and comprehensive prep guides.

In contrast to other PSAT prep books, Barron PSAT Book does not guarantee a score increase with its books. Although they attempt to make up for it with their free online trials, students who wish to get the book at no cost or whose scores do not improve will not receive a refund.

But I also learned that there is a 30-day return period for qualifying purchases at select retailers, such as Amazon, that offer Barron’s Educational Series products.

All things considered, Barron provides greater flexibility, which makes it a great choice for anyone looking to advance in their college education or professional route.

How Barron’s PSAT Books Differ from Others

There are numerous educational PSAT preparation guides available, including Kaplan and the Princeton Review. Nonetheless, the Barron PSAT Book is still regarded as one of the best PSAT prep courses.

Here are some of the reasons this is the best SAT prep book out of the bunch:

• More value for your money;
• Ample practice exams and questions;
• An in-depth overview of the concepts;
• Instructions are simple to follow;
• Specific strategies for every segment.

The comparison between Princeton Review, Kaplan, and Barron PSAT Book in terms of PSAT preparation is also shown in the table below:

Barron's PSAT Pricing

In light of the fact that price is one of Barron’s distinct advantages over its two primary competitors, Kaplan and Princeton Review, I would like to talk about it briefly as I continue my Barron’s PSAT book reviews.

During my test to provide the Barron PSAT Book Review, I discovered that this company provides excellent, affordable practice exams. Three Barron PSAT study packages are featured:

• PSAT/NMSQT with Online Tests – $9.52 to $25.99
• Digital PSAT/NMSQT Study Guide Premium – $13.4
• Barron’s PSAT/NMSQT 1520 – $14.08

Each tier comes with its own set of features, such as full-length online tests, practice questions, study guides, etc., so you can choose the package that best suits your budget.

Students' Feedback and Reputation

Based on students’ reviews of Barron’s PSAT Book, I would say that the Book has a good but not excellent online reputation. With an average rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 5 reviews, it seems that many users and experts agree that Barron PSAT Book is a comprehensive and challenging test prep book.

However, I also found that Barron’s PSAT Book has certain shortcomings, like a high level of difficulty, inaccuracies, confusion, and redundant content. I found that several of the online resources in the Book are inaccessible, similar to the review of Barron’s PSAT Book shown in the picture below. Even worse, there are instances when the cumulative chapter tests’ format is unclear or too complex to comprehend.

Overall, Barron’s might be a better option for students who want to read and seek reliable tactics for handling the different PSAT problems, but I think it still needs a lot of work.

The Verdict: Is Barron's PSAT Good?

The Barron PSAT Prep Book offers effective preparation for those on a tight budget. The study materials are of exceptional quality, even if they are reasonably priced.

Their practice question explanations are very detailed, and their practice tests cover a lot of drills specifically designed for experienced students who wish to cover all the bases.

You do not receive as much actual practice material (i.e., complete sample examinations and practice questions) as you would with some of the larger test prep companies, but you still receive all the resources you need to prepare and improve your score.

FAQ

Is the Barron’s PSAT worth it?

In my opinion, yes, Barron makes PSAT preparation worthwhile. My experience was excellent. They provide robust, in-depth questions with thorough responses covering every topic. Barron is quite costly, but it delivers.

Are Barron’s PSAT questions harder?

Yes. Numerous practice questions replicate the trickiest questions you’ll probably encounter on the final test.

Which is better: Barron’s PSAT or PrepScholar PSAT? 

In my opinion, which prep book collection is better depends on the exam you’re preparing for and your learning style. Both companies provide excellent and useful study guides.

Barron’s or Princeton Review for PSAT?

It can be difficult to choose between the prep books published by Princeton Review and Barron’s. Barron’s PSAT areas are covered in far less detail than Princeton’s, with Princeton providing informational overviews, techniques, recommendations, and examples of how to solve sample questions.